In computer operations, web services and other computer services represent powerful tools for providing flexible and easily accessible operations. A very wide variety of data and services may be presented through such services.
In web services, there often are variables that have limited values or ranges, or values that are expressed in a certain required form. One example may be codes for states, provinces, or countries, which may be represented by an abbreviation. In one particular example, each state or country may be presented by a designated two-letter code and by a display name have a certain character string. While such coding can reduce the amount of data that must be transmitted and stored and provides other advantages in operations, this system also requires that a user utilize the correct code for any value.
If a large number of codes or other possible values for inputs are needed for certain services, then the amount of metadata that must be provided to a client or user to support the services may be very large. Thus, in a conventional process there is a great deal of metadata required in every installation making use of the services.
Further, the metadata for a particular type may be the same for numerous different applications. In an example of country codes and display names, the data may be the same for many different varied web services. Thus, the same metadata is potentially duplicated many times in various different installations and in various different applications at each installation, resulting in a great amount of data storage and transfer that is required in a large enterprise to support web services. If the metadata for various types is modified, the same changes will need to be made in each installation. Thus, a small change may be greatly magnified in a large enterprise as the change is implemented in each installation and application.